CN1755725A - Data file storage/management apparatus and electronic mail processing program thereof - Google Patents

Abstract

The invention discloses a data file storage management device, and a user can simply instruct the data file storage management device to process various data files. The data file storage management device is used for storing and managing one or more data files, including a file storage unit. The data file storage management device is equipped with an e-mail processing program to realize the following functions. After receiving the e-mail, the data file storage management device interprets at least the data file processing described in the text of the e-mail, and starts the indicated data file deal with.

Description

Data file storage management device and its e-mail processing program

technical field

The present invention relates to a data file storage management device and its e-mail processing program, for example, applicable to a data file sharing device in which multiple users can share data files such as electronic files.

Background technique

In the prior art, a user puts various types of files into a database common to a plurality of users using electronic mail to which various types of files are attached (paragraph "0002" of Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2003-58542), and, An instruction is provided to the file management server by electronic mail to retrieve and retrieve a desired file from files stored in the database (Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 2003-58542 ), thereby obtaining a corresponding file.

However, in the above-mentioned conventional system, matters that can be instructed to the file management server by electronic mail are limited to registering an attached file to the database, or retrieving and fetching the relevant file from the database and sending it. Here, as for the search conditions, only the method of describing the search element type and element content such that the "keyword" is "plan or report" and the "author" is "○□△×" in the body of the e-mail is relied upon.

When the user wishes to perform different processing on public files, he only needs to contact the system administrator to set the processing content of the file management server. For example, in order to store a file put in by a certain user A in a specified folder B, the above-mentioned processing can only be described in the application software of the file management server.

However, this method has such a technical defect that if the processing content desired by the user is different, the software of the file management server will be bloated, and at the same time, it cannot easily cope with the change of the desired processing content.

Contents of the invention

The object of the present invention is to provide a data file storage management device, which can simply indicate the data file processing desired by each user of the public database at a certain moment, and also provides a preferred Email handler.

According to the first aspect of the present invention, there is provided a data file storage management device for storing and managing one or more data files, including a file storage unit, and also includes a mail interpretation unit and a file processing start unit, wherein the mail interpretation The unit is used to interpret the e-mail containing the data file processing described programmatically in the file name and/or text, and obtain the indicated data file processing; the file processing start unit is used to start the indicated data file processing.

Moreover, according to a second aspect of the present invention, there is provided an email processing program installed on a data file storage management device for storing and managing one or more data files, including a file storage unit, the email processing program includes: a mail interpreter and a file processing enabler for interpreting an e-mail containing a data file process programmatically described in the file name and/or text to obtain the indicated data file processing; the file The process initiator is used to start the indicated data file processing.

According to the present invention, the data file processing related to the file storage unit of the data file storage management device can be instructed at least by the programmatic description in the text of the email, so the user can simply indicate various data files to the data file storage management device deal with.

Description of drawings

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing the configuration of the data file sharing system of the embodiment.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing the configuration of the data file storage management device of the embodiment.

Fig. 3 is a flow chart showing processing at the time of e-mail reception in the embodiment.

FIG. 4 is an explanatory diagram showing a description example of an electronic mail in the embodiment.

Detailed ways

(A) Example

The preferred embodiments of the data file storage management system and its e-mail processing program of the present invention will be described in detail below with reference to the accompanying drawings.

(A-1) Configuration of the embodiment

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a schematic configuration of a data file sharing system including a data file storage management device (data file sharing device) of this embodiment.

As shown in Figure 1, the data file sharing system 1 related to this embodiment stores the data file management device 2, user terminal 3, MFP (Multi Function Printer: multifunction printer) 4, information sending server 5, and a single database through network 7. One or more devices (independent database devices) 6 and the like are connected to each other and formed. Here, the network 7 may be a LAN-level network, or may be a large-scale network.

The data file storage management device 2 is a server that collectively performs registration and storage of data files shared by multiple users, output of data files, user management, security management, history information management, and the like.

As shown in Figure 2, the data file storage management device 2 includes a control unit 11 for controlling the entire device, a management memory 12, a communication unit 13 connected to the network 7, a file storage unit (data storage unit) 14, a folder script Memory 15 etc. In addition, an information input device (such as a keyboard) or an information output device (such as a printer) for inputting and outputting management information may be provided.

The control unit 11 is equivalent to, for example, CPU, ROM, RAM, and software run by the CPU, etc., and it performs the following processing: or analyzes the communication information provided by the communication unit 13 and performs prescribed processing, or converts the received data file (appropriately simply referred to as a file) in the file storage unit 14, or a necessary file is read from the file storage unit 14 and transmitted by the communication unit 13, and the like.

In this embodiment, as executable software modules, the control unit 11 (CPU) includes a mail sending and receiving module (an example of an email processing program) 11A and an information viewing module 11B.

The mail transceiving module 11A includes a mail interpreting module 11a. The mail sending and receiving module 11A confirms whether the e-mail arriving at the data file storage management device 2 needs to be interpreted, and when it is confirmed that the e-mail needs to be explained, the mail interpreting module 11a is activated. The mail interpretation module 11a interprets the e-mail (text and/or file name) as a program language, and processes the data file attached to the e-mail or the data file in the file storage unit 14 according to the description. Here, when the mail interpretation module 11a recognizes the processing to be performed through the interpretation, it performs the processing after confirming that the sender user of the electronic mail is a user authorized to issue the processing instruction. Furthermore, when the received e-mail contains content to which a reply is desired, the mail interpretation module 11a replies to the content by e-mail after processing or when the processing cannot be performed due to an error or the like.

Examples of file processing (file operations) that can be interpreted and recognized by the mail interpretation module 11a are as follows. In addition, the "file" in the description of the file processing refers to the main text or attachment (attached file) of the received electronic mail, or a file stored in the file storage unit.

(a) Move and copy the file to the specified folder;

(b) Send the document to the specified address;

(c) convert the file into the specified format;

(d) OCR (character recognition) processing is performed on the file, and output in a specified format;

(e) Adding search information to the file.

A plurality of such processes may be described for one electronic mail specifying file processing, and a plurality of same-type processing (for example, copying) may also be described. In this embodiment, as described later, a "folder script" can be defined, and the folder script performs certain processing on the files placed in the folder. For example, as a folder script, if it is defined as "the files placed in the budget folder must be copied to the cashier folder", then the files placed in the budget folder must be copied to the cashier folder. Even if the processing described by e-mail is satisfied, the processing defined by the folder script can be executed. For example, when a received e-mail instructs the process of copying file A to the budget folder, file A is also copied to the cashier folder.

The information browsing module 11B is a module that can browse and change the information of the data file storage management device 2 from the user terminal 3 side.

First, the information viewing module 11B has a function of viewing the folder structure and the like of the file storage unit (data storage unit) 14 and changing the folder structure and file name. This function is, for example, the same as that of a conventional data file sharing device.

Second, the information browsing module 11B has the function of browsing, changing, and re-registering folder scripts in the folder script memory 15 . The application software used for folder script definition is existing, and realizes the function related to the folder script similarly to this software.

Thirdly, the information browsing module 11B has a function of browsing the content of the file processing that can be processed by the data file storage management device 2 according to the instruction of the received e-mail. For example, guide image data describing the content of document processing for browsing as described above is stored, and the guide image data is transmitted in response to an operation request from the user terminal 3 side.

The management memory 12 corresponds to, for example, an external storage device, and includes folder structure data 12a, file management table 12b, user management table 12c, group data 12d, and the like.

The folder structure data 12a describes a plurality of folder structures in the file storage unit 14, and also describes which file is stored in which folder.

The file management table 12b, for example, generally corresponds to the identification information (file name) of each file, and describes attributes such as the data volume, data form, and format of the file, the lowest-level folder name for storing the file, and the file stored in the file. The section 14 stores the area where the file is stored, the area location data (a set of start address and end address) etc. which specify.

The user management table 12c corresponds to user identification information (for example, the user's name), and describes the password, the identification number of the user terminal 3 used, the folders that can be used, the content of file processing that can be instructed by mail, and the like.

The group data 12d corresponds to the identification number of the group, and describes the devices of the user terminal 3 and the MFP 4 belonging to the group, and may describe the same user terminal 3 or MFP 4 as different group elements. For example, the group data 12d can be used to designate a group of devices that transmit a certain file. In addition, this group data 12d may also be installed in the information distribution server 5 mentioned later.

The communication unit 13 corresponds to, for example, a communication switch or communication software, and is used to communicate with other devices such as the user terminal 3 , the MFP 4 , the information distribution server 5 , and the individual database device 6 .

The file storage unit (data storage) 14 corresponds to, for example, a large-capacity storage device and its access structure, and stores files.

The folder script memory 15 corresponds to, for example, a semiconductor memory group, and stores registered folder scripts.

The user terminal 3 corresponds to, for example, an information processing device at the level of a personal computer having a communication function. For example, the user terminal 3 and the data file storage management device 2 transmit and receive files and e-mails, or browse the information of the data file storage management device 2 as described above.

In this embodiment, the user terminal 3 is installed with e-mail creation support software 3a for instructing file processing, for example.

The e-mail creation support software 3a, after it is activated, starts to make an e-mail judged to require explanation through the e-mail sending and receiving module 11A of the data file storage management device 2 described above. The e-mail creation support software 3a displays a menu screen for selecting one of the above-mentioned five instructions (a) to (e) that can be instructed by using e-mail. After selecting any processing type, you can set Determine the parameters related to it, etc. Here, the selection of the processing type may be performed after setting the application conditions. Also, the electronic mail creation support software 3a can instruct file processing using folder scripts. Moreover, the e-mail creation support software 3a also has the function of naming and registering the printing conditions (character size or paper size) of the file, the sending address of the file, etc. as a brief description, and can be used when making other e-mails later. Furthermore, the electronic mail creation support software 3a also has a function of whether or not to include content requesting an answer to the processing result in the electronic mail. Furthermore, the electronic mail creation support software 3a has functions such as checking whether there is a contradiction or error in the process described in the created electronic mail, and what kind of result it will lead to.

The text and/or file name of the e-mail in which the file processing is described is like an arbitrary program described in a certain programming language, and the e-mail creation support software 3a is the same as the program creation support software for a certain programming language.

The MFP 4 is provided for acquiring files stored in the data file storage management device 2 through an image scanning function, or printing out files stored in the data file storage management device 2 .

The information sending server 5 is used to send the files stored in the data file storage management device 2 to a plurality of sending addresses.

The individual database means 6 represents a database set by the user, for example, a single file can be appended to the data file storage management means 2 . Moreover, the single database device 6 can be set in relation to the user terminal 3, and can also be implemented as a part of the data file storage management device 2 that processes a single folder.

(A-2) Operation of the embodiment

For example, the user uses the e-mail creation support software 3a for instructing file processing in the user terminal 3, and creates and transmits an e-mail describing file processing that can be executed in the data file storage management device 2. Furthermore, it is of course possible to create an e-mail without using the creation support software 3a.

When the destination address of the received e-mail is one's own e-mail, the control unit 11 of the data file storage management device 2 performs processing as shown in FIG. 3 . In addition, the processing shown in FIG. 3 is performed according to the contents of the mail sending and receiving module 11A including the mail interpreting module 11a.

The control unit 11 first judges whether or not the sender (user) of the e-mail is a registered user of the data file sharing system 1 according to this embodiment described in the user management table 12c (S100). If not a registered user, the received e-mail is ignored (S101). Furthermore, even registered users can be divided into users who are permitted to send e-mails to the data file storage management device 2 and users who are not.

When the sender of the e-mail is a registered user, the control unit 11 judges whether the received e-mail requires interpretation by the e-mail interpretation module 11a (S102). For example, when there is the description of " ^* MI=ON ^* " in the file name part of the email (the initial part of the text is also possible), it is judged to be an email that needs to be explained by the mail interpretation module 11a; when there is no relevant description, It is judged as an email that does not need to be interpreted by the email interpretation module 11a. If it is an e-mail that does not require an explanation, only an e-mail that does not require an explanation for file processing, such as storage processing of electronic documents, is processed (S103).

On the other hand, when the received e-mail is an e-mail requiring interpretation by the e-mail interpretation module 11a, the control unit 11 interprets and recognizes necessary file processing (S104). Then, referring to the user management table 12c, it is judged whether or not processing that the user of the sender has no right to instruct is included in the identified file processing (S105). For example, among the above five types of file processing, the type of file processing authorized to instruct is changed according to the authority level of the user. If a certain company introduces the data file sharing system of this embodiment, it is possible to make different processing of files authorized to be instructed by persons above the minister and persons below the minister.

If there is a process that the user at the sender has no right to instruct, it is judged whether there is a description requesting a response to the process result in the received e-mail (S106). If there is no such description, the received electronic mail is ignored (S101). If there is such a description, a reply email indicating "document processing without authority instruction" is sent (S107).

If all the file processing identified by the explanation is the file processing that the sender user has the right to instruct, then the control unit 11 judges that It is checked whether there is any processing specified by the folder script that should be performed related to the file processing instructed this time (S109), and if there is such processing, the control unit 11 performs the processing (S110).

When there is no processing to be performed according to the folder script, or if there is, but the processing has ended, the control unit 11 judges whether there is a description requesting a response to the processing result in the received e-mail (S111). If there is no such description, the series of processing ends. On the other hand, if the received e-mail has a description requesting a reply to the processing result, a reply e-mail is sent to which the processing has been completed, and a series of processing is ended (S112). In addition, when the file processing based on step S108 ends due to an error, the content is included in the reply e-mail at this time.

FIG. 4 shows an example of an e-mail including an instruction to handle a file (file name, text, description part of the attached file name).

" ^* MI=ON ^* " included in the file name is used to specify the necessity of e-mail interpretation, and the description "2003 sales data" in the second half of the file name is the actual file name.

The first line (L1) of the text instructs to copy the additional file filel.x1s into the sales folder. A line beginning with a letter string of copy is used to instruct copy processing, and includes information on a file name for copy and a copy address. The second line (L2) of the text instructs to add OCR (Character Recognition) to the file2.jpg file, and make the result file2.pdf. A line beginning with an alphabet string of ocr is used to indicate character recognition processing, and includes information of a file name for character recognition and a file name of a character recognition result. Although the description of the syntax of other lines is omitted, the predetermined expressions also apply to other lines. The third line (L3) to the sixth line (L6) of the text, if the letter string "Marketing" is included in file2.pdf, it indicates to copy file2.pdf to the folder Marketing, if there is no Including the letter string "Marketing" indicates that file2.pdf is copied to the folder sales. The seventh line (L7) of the text instructs to send the attached file file1.xls to the sending address defined as dest profile 1. The eighth line (L8) of the text instructs to print the additional file file 1.x1s with printer 1 (equivalent to MFP, etc.) according to the settings defined with print profile 1.

(A-3) Effects of the embodiment

According to the above-mentioned embodiment, since the data file storage management device includes a programmatically described interpreting unit for file instructions in e-mail, various file processing can be instructed to the data file storage management device by e-mail. Here, since the file instruction can be described programmatically, the conditional text can be used to perform different file processing depending on whether the condition is satisfied or not (for example, failure processing such as saving processing performed when the condition is not satisfied).

In addition, since the e-mail for file processing includes a letter string indicating that explanation is required, the data file storage management device can easily determine whether it is an e-mail that requires explanation or an e-mail that does not need explanation.

Moreover, even if an e-mail indicating file processing that needs to be explained is received, the file processing will be performed after confirming that the sender is a registered user or that the file processing is permitted by the user, so the security of sharing files is improved. Privacy function.

In addition, since various information of the data file storage management device can be browsed from the user terminal, information required for creating an e-mail instructing file processing can be appropriately confirmed.

In addition, the user has the right to instruct to send a reply e-mail stating that the file processing has been completed, so it is possible to confirm whether the instructed file processing has been executed.

(B) other embodiments

In the above-mentioned embodiment, it was shown that there are basically five types of document processing that can be instructed by e-mail, but it is not limited thereto. For example, processing related to registration or modification of folder scripts (this is also file processing in a broad sense) can also be instructed by e-mail.

In the above-mentioned embodiment, it is shown that the entire text of the e-mail includes the description indicating the instruction of file processing, but it is also possible to use the start tag or the end tag to expressly indicate the above-mentioned description part, and it is also possible to use other parts contains any description.

It is also possible to include in the programmatic description if a reply e-mail is required as to whether the indicated file processing has been

Like " ^* MI=ON ^* ", it is also possible to include programmatic settings in the filename part.

Furthermore, the sender of the e-mail is not limited to a user terminal, but may be a terminal used by a system administrator or the like.

The above descriptions are only preferred embodiments of the present invention, and are not intended to limit the present invention. For those skilled in the art, the present invention may have various modifications and changes. Any modifications, equivalent replacements, improvements, etc. made within the spirit and principles of the present invention shall be included within the protection scope of the present invention.

Claims (5)

1. A data file storage management device, characterized in that, comprising: A file storage unit for storing one or more data files; a mail interpretation unit for interpreting e-mails containing a programmatically described data file process in the file name and/or body, obtaining the indicated data file process; and The file processing starting unit is used for starting the indicated data file processing. 2. The data file storage management device according to claim 1, characterized in that: It also includes a judging unit for whether an explanation is needed, and the judging unit for judging whether an explanation is needed is used to judge whether to activate the mail interpretation unit according to the received email. 3. The data file storage management device according to claim 2, characterized in that: The need for interpretation judging unit activates the email interpretation unit based on the existence of specified text behavior conditions in the received email. 4. The data file storage management device according to claim 2, characterized in that: The need for interpretation judging unit activates the mail interpretation unit on the condition that the sender of the received e-mail can be confirmed to be a specified person who has the authority to instruct data file processing. 5. An e-mail processing program installed on a data file storage management device for storing and managing one or more data files, including a file storage unit, is characterized in that, comprising: a mail interpreter for interpreting emails containing a programmatically described data file process in the file name and/or body, obtaining the indicated data file process; and The file processing initiator used to initiate processing of the indicated data file.

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